Articles

Advanced Aerodynamics Up Your Nose

Advanced aerodynamics up your nose, as reported in BBC Online News, 7 January 2005. In order to understand how air flows through the nose a research team at Imperial College London have built a three dimensional model of the nose and then mapped the flow of fluid containing coloured beads through the model using high speed digital cameras. The study also showed how air is conveyed to the roof of the nose where smell receptors are located after a "rapid intake of breath" (otherwise known as a sniff). The researchers found that the airflow through the nose involved some very complex aerodynamics. Dennis Doorly, who led the research, commented: "People are used to the flows around an aeroplane being complicated but that is in some ways simpler than understanding the flows inside the nose." The researchers are hoping their results will help surgeons treat nose problems more effectively.

Editorial Comment: When scientists study the aerodynamics of planes they recognise that complex aerodynamics requires complex designed objects. Therefore, they have no excuse for not recognising such design when they find a more complicated airflow system in the nose. (Ref. chance, body, design)